Glockenschläger; Germany, c. 1850

This bellguard Schläger (Glockenschläger) might have been used by German students or the German military…

Both German university students in college towns east of the River Elbe and the German military used bellguard Schlägers like this for practicing Hiebfechten (cut fencing). (In fact, weapons confiscated from students by university authorities would frequently be sold to local garrisons.) This clip from Heinrich Mann’s Der Untertan gives a reasonably adequate impression of how a Mensur auf Glockenschläger may have looked like at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This specimen, at 1.25kg weighs in on the heavy side of the spectrum. As illustrated below, the blade is both considerably wider (2.5cm at the hilt) and longer (92.5cm) than its modern counterparts.

The handle is flat and cord-wrapped, the hilt kept from shifting through a hand-forged nail. The cutting edge of the blade shows substantial burring and nicking, indicative of heavy practice use.

The olive-shaped pommel could point at a manufacturing date before 1850.